I'm not a cell phone user... never owned one... and don't plan to buy one anytime soon... but this is a pretty amazing product. The multi-touch input is pretty cool... two finger pinch or stretch to zoom in or out... and a quick brush to scroll... very nice. They filed 200 patents for this thing. It's really more of a pocket PC with a 'next generation' touch screen / gestural interface than a phone. And of course... it has Apple's great software and user interface. Some minuses people are pointing out...

1. Not a 3g phone (whatever that means)2. Small storage space for something that can play music, movies, photos, etc.3. Might be hard to type on (wait and see)4. Price (then again... it could replace your current phone, ipod and pocket pc / blackberry)5. Tied to Cingular (which apparently isn't the best)

That said... give it a year and I'm sure the storage will double, it'll be 3g.. and it'll be cheaper.

I think one of the most interesting things about this phone is that Apple actually got Cingular to change their network protocols in order to support the iPhone's visual voice mail feature?! That is unheard of. It's never happened before. In the past... cell phone network providors tell you how to interface with their network... and you have to build to that spec. Period. Will be interesting to see if other providors make the same changes so they could also support the iPhone. One thing for sure... expect to see a LOT of third rate knock-offs within the next couple of years. Microsoft will probably come out with their knock off in 3-4 years time. They could call is the Zone :P

Or you could go with a Treo. Add one of those mini Bluetooth GPS receivers and you have a 6 oz. machine that can do pretty much everything the iPhone does PLUS Word, Excel, etc. AND has 20,000 programs out there to run on it. The iPhone looks cool, but I'll be sticking with the Treo for now.

And just to keep this BP related - I did take my Treo on my last trip. Nothing like fitting multiple novels in a 5 oz. package. And multiple Topo maps. And a digital journal. And a video (low quality) camera. And........

My question: will it have a USB port, and if so can that be used as a serial port to connect a satellite phone? There's no cell service where I hike. With Mac OS X, maybe a shell (for ssh) or a VNC client? I'm also wondering about GPS capability...

I am driving my local Apple Store nuts with questions. They are also very excited but it is just to new for much information to be out yet. They are really nice and we are having a lot of fun.

The iPod has a dock that can connect to a computer and is also the battery charger I think. My guess is the iPhone will also have a dock that is the charger and the interface (through ??) a USB port. Next question is will the OS X version on iPhone be the full version of what I am running on the Apple (2) that I have.

It would be nice to have a "serial port" and a "backpacking level GPS". What ever it comes with is a good start.

It doesnt have the capacity (YET!) of the iPhone, but the FIC Neo1973 cell phone is a fully open source phone, running linux, and capable of doing anything the iPhone can do. Its a big fat touch screen, like the iPhone, can be used as a GPS system, has a complete media player built in, and can run any of thousands already existing applications. It is built using the USB for power and data transfer, and can be used as a USB broadband modem for laptops.

Cost is only $350, and is unlocked as to service provider.

It SHOULD reach general availability around the same time as the iPhone.

Apple screwed themseleves by hitching their wagon exclusively to cingular. i find it highly unlikely that most consumers will pay $600 to switch carriers so they can use a device that does a lot of things adequately but nothing well.

on top of that, if you are hardcore enought to take a fragile(apple product= kid gloves!)big $$$ device into the BC then more power to you. Remember, you are subject to your carrier's coverage, spotty at best in a lot of the wilderness.

there have been quite a few combo devices in the past and all of them have been marginal at best (i.e, the LG chocolate). i think this is another one of those, a niche product.

not trying to bash the thing befor it comes out but i'm bummed after all the hype. way too much $. i think of how many times i've dropped my ipod: none. i treat it like a newborn. how many times have i dropped my phone?: about 300. it just migrates around my person too much to take care of well, but it's not a big problem because it's relatively cheap and pretty burly. the iphone appears to be neither.

i think the treo idea might be the best for bpl'ers. cheaper, and it appears to be more sturdily built.

I have Cingular and they're not *that* bad. I would have picked Verizon, but my company picks the phone.

I wouldn't say Apple screwed themselves as much as *we* have been screwed by the telephone companies. Apple made Cingular change their backend systems to support their innovations. If this means the end of crippled BT, wifi, etc, I'm all for it.

Remember, Cingular is the initial partner, but I'm sure you'll hear about other companies coming on board as the product matures. If Jobs can have Google *and* Yahoo on board, I'm sure he's looking at other carriers as well.

That being said, it's time for me to shut down my ibm thinkpad and call my wife on my cingular 8125 brick ;-)

I keep looking at the satellite phones and keep wondering about PocketMail. Iridium (Motorola) did make a pager but it is inidirectional. I wish that one of those Sat-Phone companies would make a two-way text messager.

To your request, Inmarsat C, a satellite store and forward messaging system, provides 2 way messaging (up to 32K each way) as well as SMS service. That's the good news.

The bad news is they weigh much more than the +/- 8-10 ounce small satellite phones. The 'C' I'm familar with is about 3 Kg, and requires a 12V battery, and is typically placed on vehicles or other assets that need to be tracked.

Some of the sat phones have a low rate data / IP data capability, so that may get you where you want to go on a slightly different path.

There are some systems that do exactly what you want in a **very** lightweight, very small package, more good news. The bad news, you can't afford them and they're currently only available to the US Government. Why mention it? Because there's a trend for this type of technology to migrate to commercial technology in time. The time will come within 3 - 5 years where realtime multi-mode tracking and SMS anywhere are an affordable reality.

If I really wanted 2 way data anywhere, I'd go with one of the lightweight 8-10 oz data capable sat phones.

I was just on another Sat-Phone website and they have two phones; one 130grams and the other 170 grams. The second is a SatPhone, GPS and GSM phone all rolled into one............

but there is a catch, not over here!

Then again a few years ago I thought of a crazy idea where all of the PCT traffic could have a locater on them and we could all go to a website and track the whereabouts of all of the herd traveling north.

The "Real" idea that I pondered was to have small (sub 4 ounce) sat-messengers that you could use to textmessage all of your new-found friends on the trail each day. Maybe again also your loved ones back at home too.

Maybe again repacking supply boxes for every whim is not everyones idea of a vacation for the person infected with "Wanderlust".

Yeah, it looks amazing. What really has me excited:-It's running OS X. Lots of potential for cool 3rd-party apps.-Even more importantly, this is just the first attempt! Remember the original iPod? That thing looks primitive now. It was only 2 years later that we got the iPod mini. I can't wait to see how the iPhone turns out in a few years...-Mark